A consumer group is urgently calling on the federal government to follow other jurisdictions in the U.S and Europe and bring in legislation to stem the slide toward a cashless society.
Only 10 per cent of transactions in Canada today are done using cash, according to Carlos Castiblanco, an economist with the group Option Consommateurs.
“There is a need to protect cash right now before more merchants start refusing [it],” Castiblanco recently told CBC Radio’s Ontario Today.
It’s critical to act now, he added, before retailers begin removing all the infrastructure required to store and maintain physical money.
The ONLY place I have used cash in the last year at least has been having a coin for my shopping cart and the local dump only takes cash.
I get 2-3% back on every transaction my credit card and pay it off every month for zero fees.
I’m the same.
But we also pay 5-6% more for everything as a society, or whatever credit cards are charging merchants now a days.
$0.30 + 1.8-2.6% (up to 3.5% if they take Amex)